The Number Tesla Stock Bulls Are Really Waiting for This Earnings Season Has Nothing to Do With Cars

As we approach Tesla’s (TSLA) Q2 earnings on July 22, Tesla shareholders are waiting for an update on a product that is likely to drive the company’s bull thesis in the future. While the focus has been on the deliveries and production numbers over the past decade, it is slowly shifting to a product CEO Elon Musk promised to deliver good news on by July.

We’re now past the halfway mark, and there is still no update on that front. I’m referring to Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus. On the Q1 earnings call, Elon Musk had said that Optimus production would begin in July. This was just an approximation, so no update on this front doesn’t necessarily mean bad news. In fact, Musk himself said that the 2026 production rate would be impossible to predict. And there are good reasons for that. Tesla’s main line of business, automotive manufacturing, has enjoyed manufacturing progress for over a century now. Factories have perfected building parts that go into each vehicle. For a humanoid robot, such history does not exist. Therefore, for a company to ramp up production is no easy task.